Tunbridge Wells 2-0 Shildon - We've got nothing to celebrate,says Tunbridge Wells boss Martin Larkin

TUNBRIDGE WELLS  2-0  SHILDON
The FA Carlsberg Vase Semi-Final First Leg
Saturday 23^rd March 2013
Stephen McCartney reports from Culverden Stadium

TUNBRIDGE WELLS manager Martin Larkin insists it’s going to be a big task up at Shildon in the FA Carlsberg Vase Semi-Final Second Leg next Saturday – despite winning the first leg by two clear goals.

The Kent Hurlimann Football League club pulled off all the stops to ensure this game went ahead.

The pitch surprisingly passed a pitch inspection exactly 24 hours before kick-off, but rain and sleet put the game in grave danger, in fact it failed an early morning pitch inspection.  But the club put out a SOS via twitter last night and up to 50 volunteers worked a miracle to get the muddy pitch playable and it passed an 11:30 pitch inspection before match referee Michael Bull finally gave the match the go-ahead nearly an hour before kick-off, with hundreds of fans queuing in the car park.

And the club were rewarded when a record crowd of 1,754 – eclipsing the previous record of 1,180 that watched their 2-0 home win over Hadleigh United in the quarter-finals – saw the Kent side take a giant step towards reaching a Wembley Final for the very first time in their history.

Tunbridge Wells will travel to Dean Street with the physiological edge thanks to Andy Irvine’s fifth goal in the competition of the season and a clinical Jon Pilbeam penalty – both inside the final 12 minutes to win a muddy scrap.

Larkin, whose side knocked out holders Dunston in the Fourth Round, was delighted that his side took advantage of being at home in the first leg.

He said: ”There was one point there when we was proper on the rack, that’s the thing we’re proudest about. The first half was pretty even. The problem with the pitch the way it was wet affected our pace out wide. We stuck with it. 

”The second half, to be fair to them, they’re quality and their power and their size really came into it and that ten minute spell in the second half where we were a bit worried. To get through that unscathed and then obviously get the goals is fantastic!

”We did say to them (my players), if we nick one we might get two, so I’m happy with that.

”I think our fitness came through quite a bit. We’re a very, very fit team. We could have nicked one on the break but it wasn’t to be.”

Skipper Jason Bourne screamed “it’s all about us today,” as the players lined up in the players tunnel and ready to go to battle.  Shildon entered the arena wearing red tracksuit tops for the respect handshake.

But the eleventh-placed Northern League club created the game’s first chance with only 102 seconds on the clock.

Michael Tate swung in the game’s first corner and this was headed back to him, before he whipped in a first time cross from the by-line which sailed to Carl Jones at the far post and the central defender, who was later forced off through injury, nodded the ball straight at Chris Oladogba from six-yards.

Shildon turned defence into a swift attack when Joe Fuller’s free-kick some 40 yards from the Shildon goal was poor and didn’t even reach the penalty area and Shildon swept the ball forward and Mark Hudson released Samuel Garvie, who cut inside and stroked a weak left-footed shot towards goal from fifteen-yards for Oladogba to gather.

Tunbridge Wells’ first chance of the scrappy encounter came in the 26^th minute.

Lewis Mingle played the ball inside to Fuller, who played the ball inside to central midfielder Jason Barton and he played left-winger Josh Stanford in behind Shildon right-back Christopher Hunter and the winger whipped the ball in towards the far post.   Pilbeam cracked a low angled right-footed drive, which was blocked and then cleared away from inside the Shildon six-yard box.

Shildon linked up well down the right with Hunter and Daniel Richmond, who played the ball inside and the impressive Samuel Garvie, whose left-footed shot from 20-yards sailed wide of the far post.

Tunbridge Wells’ second chance arrived in the 34^th minute.  Stanford, Lewis Mingle and Jack Harris linked up before Fuller played the ball inside along the edge of the penalty area for Irvine to crack a left-footed shot on the turn, which was caught by visiting keeper Keith Finch.

Perry Spackman – who alongside Scott Whibley were their usual immense self at the heart of the Tunbridge Wells defence – pumped a deep free-kick towards the far post for Irvine to head the ball down for Finch to easily gather.

But Shildon created the game’s first real clear-cut chance when Richmond released Garvie, who took the ball wide before poking a right-footed shot across Oladogba.  The highly-rated stopper dived low to his right and stuck out his right arm to clutch the ball safety to prevent the ball rolling into the corner.

Larkin said: “I don’t think they created too much of their own back.  I thought our mistakes helped create what they created but they’ve got so much power right through the side.

”We defended well. We’re a very good defensive unit,” Larkin added.  “It was difficult for them to play and very difficult for us to play, but we did.

”I think Chris had one save to make when he spilt it and got it again, but apart from that, no real proper one-on-one chances they had.  We need to do that again next week!”

Fuller played a ball inside to Pilbeam, whose right-footed drive flashed across goal and harmlessly past the far post – despite Irvine’s attempt to ghost in at the far post.

Shildon – who won the corner count 10-2 – should have done better with their fourth and last first half corner.

Tate’s outswinging corner from the right was met by Jamie Owen’s bullet header, but the only outfield player wearing gloves sent his header wide of the near post.

Tunbridge Wells were resilient in defence and the score was goal-less at the break.

”I thought it was quite even in the first half,” reflected Larkin.  “We had a couple of chances with crosses but they weren’t quite there. All our momentum comes from our wing play and the pace in behind. Because we couldn’t get into the game it was hard for the rest of the guys to drag it through.  Once we got to that last 20-25 minutes where they sort of tired a little bit, we were able to do that.”

Shildon created the opening chance of the second half – in the 58^th minute.

Oladogba made a comfortable catch after Hudson’s right-footed drive from 20-yards took a deflection and looped towards goal after Richard Flynn pumped a free-kick towards the edge of the box from the middle of the park in the 58^th minute.

Tunbridge Wells midfielder Fuller delivered a free-kick towards the far post for Spackman to guide his header into Finch’s gloves as the game edged past the hour mark.

Tate’s seventh corner of the game found Owens at the far post and his header once again sailed wide.

Tunbridge Wells were to be thwarted in the 65^th minute. 

Stanford played the ball inside to Harris, who played the ball back to Stanford, who played the ball to Pilbeam, whose poor first touch forced him wide before his cross-shot sailed across Finch and Hunter headed the ball off the line beside the far post.

Hunter showed his attacking talent when he cut in from the right and substitute Ben Wood’s drive was parried by Oladogba and Owens’ shot was blocked by Pilbeam’s goal-saving block and the ball sailed over the crossbar.

But the introduction of substitute Carl Cornwell (with Harris dropping back into midfield) with 21 minutes remaining sparked Tunbridge Wells was to be the turning point.

”Not a change we normally make,” explained Larkin.

”We put Jack (Harris) into centre midfield. What we said to Hooley (Cornell) was he hasn’t been playing and we wanted that ball over the top to Jack today because the pitch wasn’t great. We didn’t play that much on it and Hooley got into the space as we asked him to and started linking play. He’s a very, very clever player. He definitely made a change in the game.”

And a flare was let off onto the pitch following Tunbridge Wells’ first goal with 32:34 on the clock.

A Shildon attack broke down inside the Tunbridge Wells half and Pilbeam played the ball inside to Cornell, who released Pilbeam down the right channel.

Winger Pilbeam was given time and space by Shildon left-back Ben Christensen and he played the ball across the face of the penalty area to find the unmarked Irvine – who was quiet up to this point – and he produced a fine finish, bring the ball under control before stroking a right-footed shot past Finch into the centre of the goal from eight-yards to score his fourteenth goal for the club this season.

Larkin said: “He’s run his legs off to be fair to him. He’s good. He’s decent. I thought he took his goal really well.  

”It’s something we work on a lot in training. He chested it down and put it away. He played very, very, very well and they all did on what were difficult conditions.

”We worked all week. We knew crosses into the box is what we wanted to do, expose them and when we got it right we scored from it.”

Speaking about the pitch, Larkin said: “It’s strange really. It’s normally just soft out there but it’s actually quite firm that first inch or so is really, really wet and it’s very difficult for our wingers to get into the game, but Andy and the rest of them, they did very, very well.”

Shildon skipper Flynn gave his side a mountain to climb when he made a clumsy sliding challenge just a yard inside the box to send Cornell to the ground and referee Mr Bull, who had an excellent game taking into account the conditions, pointed to the spot.

With usual penalty taker Andy McMath serving a suspension, up stepped Pilbeam, who maintained his composure and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to slot his right-footed penalty into the bottom right-hand corner with six minutes remaining.

”He’s been asking to take penalties a long time,” revealed Larkin.  “Macca’s very good with them. Macca wasn’t playing today which affected us quite a bit because he’s our ball player in the middle of the park.  Tom Davey wasn’t playing either so it was a lot of pressure but Pilbs loves that. He loves attention so he struck it away pretty well.”

Shildon failed to take an injury time lifeline that could have been a crucial moment in the 180-minute tie.

They were awarded a free-kick just 20 yards from goal, but central midfielder Robert Briggs clipped his right-footed free-kick over the wall and towards the far post but Bourne was positioned to glance his header behind for a corner.

The final whistle brought a mini pitch invasion from unwise youngsters – but Larkin knows this game is not finished yet.

”It’s a case of now can we defend properly during the first half hour up at their place.  If we can keep that half an hour nice and tight and nick something then we’ve got half a chance, but it’s going to be a big task because they’re a very, very good side.”

When asked how he was feeling after the first leg success, Larkin replied, “It’s difficult really because there’s the second leg so you’re not bouncing off the walls or anything. It’s a job done.”

Larkin added: “We haven’t got nothing to celebrate because it’s only one game done.”

A job done that was impossible without the club’s supporters.

Larkin said: “It’s amazing.  Joe (Croker, the chairman) said at eight the game’s off. I got here at nine and there was sort of 10-15 here forking the pitch. When I saw there was a chance of it being on I thought I’d get something to eat because I wasn’t planning on being here very long, so I had breakfast and came back at about 10 and there were 50 people here forking the pitch, cutting it and making it look good.

”It’s just fantastic. That’s why this level is so special because the word ran out and without that help the game wouldn’t been on and we wouldn’t be 2-0 up.  That’s how close the players are with the fans. It’s fantastic!”

And club captain Jason Bourne used that community spirit as a motivation tool to give the Kent side a fighting chance of reaching Wembley.

The right-back said: ”It was tough. It was tough going at the Culverden. We’ve brought them here and the conditions were terrible, but they had 40 people out forking the pitch today and that’s motivation enough! You get 40 volunteers who have given up their time, who aren’t normally involved in the club and we want to give it back. It really spurred us on. That was a real motivation kick if ever we wanted one in a Vase Semi-Final, but it’s all about giving back.

”It’s not only reward for us. We want to try and do our best to get through to a final, but rewards for everyone else involved in the club starting at the chairman right down to the tea lady down to the supporters and that was our motivation. I can honestly, hand on heart, say that’s why we’re doing it for.”

Bourne thought breaking the club’s record crowd for the second time was amazing!

”We broke the record in the quarter-finals and they stepped it up again,” he said.

”The weather was terrible. If the sun was out we might’ve had another couple of hundred but we’re certainly not going to sniff at 1,700 up at the Culverden. The noise they made was unbelievable so all credit goes to them.”

For a totally amateur side to be so close to a Wembley Final is something to be treasured in a game now dominated by money.

Bourne said: ”It’s a privilege to be involved in a semi-final being an amateur side. All the teams who are left in it are heavily backed financially. We don’t need the financial backing. We’ve got team spirit. We’ve got the supporters here today and infrastructure around the club.  Martin prepares us. There’s not a stone unturned. We don’t feel like an amateur side.”

And when asked whether he’s dreaming about Wembley, Bourne replied: “Not yet. No. We’ll talk about that next week. It’s 2-0. It’s half-time. They’re a good side. You saw today they’re capable of scoring goals. We’ll be fully focused in beating them. We’re certainly not going to talk about the W word.”

Meanwhile, big-spending Northern League outfit Spennymoor Town won 3-1 at Combined Counties League Guernsey in the other semi-final. 

Tunbridge Wells: Chris Oladogba, Jason Bourne, Lewis Mingle, Jason Barton (Carl Cornell 69), Scott Whibley, Perry Spackman, Jon Pilbeam, Joe Fuller, Andy Irvine (Richard Sinden 90), Jack Harris, Josh Stanford.
Subs: Andy Boyle, Tom Carr, Michal Czanner

Goals: Andy Irvine 78, Jon Pilbeam 84 (penalty)

Booked: Scott Whibley 44, Joe Fuller 71

Shildon: Keith Finch, Christopher Hunter, Ben Christensen, Mark Hudson, Carl Jones (Christopher McCabe 37), Richard Flynn, Samuel Garvie, Robert Briggs, Jamie Owens, Michael Tate (Ben Wood 69), Daniel Richmond.
Subs: Adam Johnston, Billy Greulish-Smith, John Brackstone

Attendance: 1,754
Referee: Mr Michael Bull (Chelmsford, Essex)
Assistants: Mr Alan Dale (Ipswich, Suffolk) & Mr Michael Smith (Basildon, Essex)
Fourth Official: Mr Barry Holderness (Wickford, Essex)